When Vice President Mike Pence visited Ajo Al’s on Tuesday for a fundraiser, he joined a list of the nation’s presidents and vice presidents who have engaged in an understandable rite of passage: stopping at a Mexican restaurant while visiting Arizona.

Mexican food can get politicians in trouble. In 1976, President Gerald Ford famously tried to eat a tamale in Texas without removing the outer corn husk.

Pence didn't dig into a plate of pollo con queso, but his visit continues a streak dating back 30 years of consecutive Presidential administrations adding some spice to their Arizona visits.

The streak appears to go back at least to the administration of Ronald Regan.

George H.W. Bush, June 1987

Vice President George Bush learns the intricacies of frying tortillas from Julia Amaya during a tour of Estrella Tortilla Factory in South Phoenix on June 5, 1987.(Photo: Republic file photo)

Vice President George H.W. Bush kneaded dough at the Estrella Tortilla Factory during a June visit and ate a breakfast of menudo and chorizo.

“It’s terrific,” Bush said, giving a thumbs-up to reporters who were kept some distance from both the president and the food. “Eat your hearts out.”

Dan Quayle, 1990

In 1990, Bush's second-in-command, Vice President Dan Quayle, had Garcia’s Del Este of Scottsdale, kin to the original Garcia’s chain, cater a dinner aboard Air Force Two. No word on the menu.

President Bill Clinton made a visit to Poncho's Mexican Food and Cantina in South Phoenix on July 7, 1999.(Photo: Jill Richards/The Republic)

President Bill Clinton, July 1999

President Bill Clinton, after touring the La Canasta tortilla chip factory, made a stop at Poncho’s, located along Central Road in South Phoenix. It was karaoke night.

Clinton dined on the Fiesta Chiquita appetizer platter that included two mini-tacos, two mini-chimichangas, two mini-tamales and a side of beans.

President George W. Bush, January 2004

President George W. Bush dined at Tee Pee Mexican Food on Indian School Road along with Arizona Diamondbacks executives Jerry Colangelo and Joe Garagiola Jr., team manager Bob Brenly and Arte Moreno, the Arizona resident who owned the Anaheim Angels.

Bush had the Number 2 combination of enchiladas, rice and beans. The restaurant was suggested by a Bush staffer, Sarah Tillman, who grew up in Phoenix and whose family had frequented the restaurant for generations.

A Republic columnist at the time, O. Ricardo Pimentel, questioned the choice, wondering why Bush was not taken to a more authentic place “where they would not deign to use hamburger meat for taco filling.”

President Barack Obama, August 2009

Macayo's CEO Sharisse Johnson stands outside of the Central Avenue location in central Phoenix in this file photo. The restaurant plans to move into an auto-shop building across the street.(Photo: Michael Schennum/The Republic)

President Obama visited Phoenix in August 2009, stopping at Macayo’s for the fajita platter, one that included beef, chicken and shrimp. His wife, Michelle, ordered fish tacos and a beef tamale.

The restaurant on Central Avenue, a Phoenix institution for years, was a wise choice politically, said the Republic’s dining critic at the time, Howard Seftel.

“It's a locally owned, middle-of-the-road Mexican-food restaurant that serves food that everybody is familiar with,” Seftel said. “It shows that he is not an elitist, but rather eats food that most people can identify with.”

Vice President Mike Pence, October 2017

It is not clear whether Pence ate anything while at the Phoenix mainstay near 16th Street and Camelback Road.

Each table was set up with glasses of Arnold Palmers, should Pence have been parched while chatting with attendees. Pence was spotted sipping a bit of beverage but resisted the temptation to crunch into the chips laid out in bowls on each table.

President Donald Trump has visited Arizona, but he has not publicly stopped at any Mexican food restaurants. If Pence was scouting for him, Ajo Al’s does have a taco salad ($9.50).